Department for Communities and Local Government

Empty Dwelling Management Orders

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what recentestimate they have made of the number of Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs); what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of EDMOs; and whether they have any proposals to change (1) the regulations relating to EDMOs, and (2) the way in which EDMOs operate in practice, in order to increase their ease of use.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) enable a local housing authority to put an empty property back into use. The property must have been empty for at least two years and be a blight on the local neighbourhood. It is for local housing authorities to decide when to use these powers and Government does not collect data on the number of EDMOs that have been issued. The number of empty homes is at its lowest since records began. In May 2010 over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of November 2017 the number of long-term empty properties had fallen to 206,236. There are no current plans to make any changes to the way in which EDMOs operate.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the review of fire safety regulations and precautions, which arose from the fire at Lakanal House in south London in 2009, will be published.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: I refer the Noble Lord to my answer of 19 December to PQ HL 1281, following which a note setting out the action the then Government took in response to the coroner's recommendations following the fire at Lakanal House has been placed in the Library of the House.I would also refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's statement made on 18 December, which I repeated on the same day. The Government is now working with industry experts to complete work on clarifying the approved documents on fire safety.

Local Government: Borrowing

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government why local authorities can borrow from the Public Works Loan Board to buy commercial property but not to fund the construction of social housing.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Under the Local Government Act 2003, local authorities have the freedom to borrow and invest, without government consent, provided that their borrowing is affordable. This is known as the Prudential Framework. Local authorities can borrow from the Public Works Loan Board to fund the construction of social housing. However, this is only where they have headroom to do so under the Housing Revenue Account borrowing caps and provided that any such borrowing is prudential.We have listened to local authorities who asked for additional borrowing to build more housing. We recently announced that we will raise the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap by a total of up to £1 billion in areas of high affordability pressure for local authorities who are ready to start building new homes. Local authorities will be able to bid for increases in their caps from 2019-20 to 2021/22.This will complement measures to support local authorities to build more homes through a longer term rent deal that provides a stable investment environment to deliver new homes. This is alongside an additional £2 billion to deliver more affordable housing for social rent in areas of acute affordability pressure. This will help to deliver the new generation of council house building which the Prime Minister announced recently.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Memorandum of Understanding between the Financial Reporting Council and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills dated July 2010 describes the Financial Reporting Council as a private body.

lord henley: The Memorandum of Understanding between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Financial Reporting Council will need to be reviewed and updated in due course. The memorandum was signed before the Office of National Statistics’ confirmation in 2014 that the Financial Reporting Council is a public body and was based on the expectations at that time. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed last year that it expected the Financial Reporting Council to remain a public body. The reference to the Financial Reporting Council being a private body does not affect the operation of the Memorandum.

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government for how long the Financial Reporting Council has been classified by the National Accounts Classification Committee as a central government public body.

lord henley: The Financial Reporting Council was classified as a public body by the Office for National Statistics on 31st October 2004. Following a review, in 2014 the Office of National Statistics reconfirmed the Financial Reporting Council’s classification as a public body and in 2017 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed it is expected to remain as such.

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Financial Reporting Council has met all the obligations required of public bodies, in particularrelating to(1) procurement, (2) recruitment, (3) remuneration, and(4) the Freedom of Information Act 2000,since its establishment; and if not, for how long, if at all,it has met all theobligations in each category.

lord henley: The Financial Reporting Council has met all the obligations placed upon it by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Financial Reporting Council is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in respect of certain functions under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006 by sections 1228(3) and 1252(3). The Financial Reporting Council’s Freedom of Information Scheme has been approved by the Information Commissioner and it acts in accordance with this scheme. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will continue to review whether the current scope of application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is appropriate given the way in which the Financial Reporting Council’s responsibilities have developed and the confirmation that it will remain a public body.

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government who receives the proceeds of successful legal actions brought by the Financial Reporting Council against any of the Big Four accountancy firms; and whether any of those proceeds are allocated to accountancy firms trade associations.

lord henley: Fines imposed on accountancy firms by the Financial Reporting Council as part of an audit enforcement action must be paid by the Financial Reporting Council to the Secretary of State. Any costs awarded to the Financial Reporting Council in recognition of the enforcement costs funded by the recognised audit supervisory bodies must be paid to those bodies. This arrangement applies only in respect of fines paid under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016.

Financial Reporting Council

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have given any guarantees to the Financial Reporting Council to cover legal costs for cases brought against accountancy firms.

lord henley: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not given any guarantee to cover the legal costs of cases brought against accountancy firms. The Department has given the following undertaking for the 2017-18 financial year. It relates to audit investigations and sanctions work resulting in a statutory fine under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016. Those regulations require the fine to be paid to the Secretary of State. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy would establish a programme of grant payments to cover any loss of funding to the Financial Reporting Council, which would otherwise have been funded from the fine income.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

lord hain: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Trustees of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme have asked Ministers for meetings to re-negotiate the surplus sharing arrangements of the Scheme since privatisation of the industry; what were the responses to those requests; and what was the reasoning behind theresponse in each case.

lord henley: The Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees have requested changes to the surplus-sharing arrangements on two occasions (2000 and 2006). On each occasion, the Government considered that the existing arrangements were working well and fair to all parties. Since then, the scheme has continued to deliver bonuses to members.

Partnerships: Scotland

lord robertson of port ellen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they are taking to regulate the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.

lord henley: The Government conducted a Call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law in 2017. We are actively considering options for reform and will announce next steps shortly.

Partnerships: Scotland

lord robertson of port ellen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the National Crime Agency about the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.

lord henley: As part of the recent call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law, government officials have discussed the operation of Scottish Limited Partnerships with the National Crime Agency, and received evidence from the Agency.

Partnerships: Scotland

lord robertson of port ellen: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether ministers have had discussions with the government of Scotland about the operation of Scottish limited partnerships.

lord henley: In addition to official level engagement my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility (Margot James) has had an exchange of correspondence with the Scottish Government on the issue of Scottish Limited Partnerships.

Partnerships: Scotland

lord robertson of port ellen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they are taking to prevent the use of Scottish limited partnerships for money laundering and the avoidance of legal limits on financial activity.

lord henley: The Government conducted a Call for Evidence on Limited Partnership law in 2017. We are actively considering options for reform and will announce next steps shortly.

Attorney General

Prosecutions

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use by the CPS of the phrase “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction” in cases where there is no evidence at all against the accused; and what guidance they have given, or intend to give, to the CPS in respect of such use.

lord keen of elie: The Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code) sets out the general principles Crown prosecutors must follow when they make decisions on cases.The full Code test has two stages. Crown prosecutors must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each suspect or defendant on each charge. If the case does pass the evidential stage, Crown prosecutors must proceed to the second stage and decide if a prosecution is needed in the public interest.The Crown Prosecution Service has adopted the wording recommended in the 2016 report of Sir Richard Henriques for public announcements of decisions not to charge an individual, namely that “the case failed to meet the evidential test”. That terminology is not a comment on the strength or weakness of the evidence in any particular case.The test applied by prosecutors continues to be that set out in the Code.

Hate Crime: Prosecutions

lord vinson: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 6 December 2017 that she would write to the Director of Public Prosecutions (HL Deb, col 1051), whether she has done so; and if so, what was the response.

lord keen of elie: I would refer his Lordship to the answer to HL4421 from Lord Pearson, which was tabled on 21 December 2017, a copy of which has been made available in the Library of the House.

Department for International Development

Greece: Refugees

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees regarding (1) the work needed to improve conditions for refugees in the camp at Moria on Lesbos, and (2) the resettlement or repatriation of other refugees on the islands and mainland of Greece.

lord bates: The UK government is supporting the European Union, who, with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other partners, is working tirelessly with the Greek government to improve conditions for refugees.EU efforts include supporting the government to accelerate procedures to reduce the time asylum seekers stay on islands such as Lesbos, transferring vulnerable people to the mainland and improving accommodation on the islands.The UK provides expert staff to strengthen EU efforts in two areas: accelerating asylum processes, and supporting the Greek authorities to improve conditions for migrants in the hotspots.The UK also continues to work with UNHCR on resettling vulnerable refugees directly from regions affected by conflict. The UK has welcomed over 9,300 vulnerable refugees under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme since it began in 2014.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to use all possible means, including cooperation with Russia, to achieve full humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta, Syria.

lord bates: Humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta is severely constrained by the Assad regime. Where access allows, our partners including the UN and NGOs are providing life-saving food, protection, and healthcare. The recent medical evacuation of 29 people in urgent need of treatment, whilst positive, does little to meet overall humanitarian need in Eastern Ghouta. The UK continues to demand full and sustained humanitarian access in order to deliver aid to those in need, and for further medical evacuations to take place. We are doing all we can diplomatically to achieve this, including calling on Russia to use its influence with the Assad regime.

Department for Education

Office for Students

lord watson of invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the comments byViscount Younger of Leckie on 16 January 2017 (HL Deb, cols 22–3), what guidance will be issued to the Office for Students; whether that guidancewill be published in the form of an annual letter; and if not, what form it will take.

viscount younger of leckie: We will issue annual guidance to the Office for Students, including the allocation of government Grant in Aid and government priorities for higher education for the following academic year. It is likely that this guidance will take the form of a letter. Where appropriate, the government may issue supplementary guidance during the course of the year.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Reorganisation

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the change of name of the Department for Communities and Local Government to the Ministry ofHousing, Communities and Local Government, what is their estimate of the cost of the resulting changes to signs, badges, stationery, and other matters.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Building the homes our country needs is an absolute priority for this government. The name change for the department reflects this government’s renewed focus to deliver more homes and build stronger communities across England.Any necessary changes will be done in a cost-efficient way with expenditure being kept to a minimum. This would of course be a fraction of the cost of splitting up the Ministry as proposed by the opposition.

Ministry of Defence

Trident

lord campbell of pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the programme to replace the UK nuclear deterrent.

earl howe: I refer the noble Lord to the statement I made to the House on 20 December 2017, (HLWS371) stating that the sixth report on the progress of the replacement programme was published and placed in the Library of the House. The report 'The United Kingdom's Future Nuclear Deterrent: The Dreadnought Programme, 2017 Update to Parliament' sets out that construction of the first of the new Dreadnought class submarines is under way and the build programme remains on time and within cost.



HLWS371 - Future Nuclear Deterrent 2017 Update
(Word Document, 13.55 KB)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Agency

lord german: To ask Her Majesty's Government which functions of the Environment Agency they are proposing to transfer to the Canal and River Trust.

lord gardiner of kimble: We are proposing to respond to the Canal & River Trust’s recent proposal for the transfer of EA navigations imminently. As such, I am unable to comment further.

Home Office

Asylum

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many incoming transfers under the Dublin III Regulation (regulation 604/2013) were made to the UK in 2017; and how many times the discretion under Article 18(1) of the Regulation was used in 2017.

baroness williams of trafford: The discretionary clauses under the Dublin III Regulation can be found at Article 17 of the Regulation, with Article 17(2) being the relevant criteria for coming transfer requestsThe Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_quarterly_report. The Commission has data up to, and including 2016. This shows the UK processed over 6,000 Dublin requests in 2016: over 4,200 outgoing requests to other Member States and almost 1,800 incoming requests. 2017 data is not yet available. Under the Dublin III Regulation, Member States have two months from receiving a request from another participating Member State to accept or reject responsibility for processing the asylum claim. Once a Dublin request has been accepted (or legal matters have been resolved), the Regulation provides that the sending Member State has six months to enact the transfer. The Home Office works closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six month timeframe.

Detention Centres

lord lipsey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many immigration detention estate Independent Monitoring Board reports for 2016 they responded to; and when they intend to respond to the rest of those reports.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government has responded to the Brook House immigration removal centre and the Cedars pre-departure accommodation Independent Monitoring Board annual reports for 2016.My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Immigration will review the remaining Independent Monitoring Board reports for the immigration detention estate and respond in due course.

Asylum: Detainees

lord ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of detention for adult asylum seekers in the UK in 2017.

lord ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of detention for all minors seeking asylum in the UK in 2017.

lord ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of detention for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the UK in 2017.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on the length of detention of people leaving detention is available in tables dt_06_q and dt_09_q of the detention tables in the latest releases of ‘Immigration Statistics, July to September 2017’, available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662536/detention-jul-sep-2017-tables.ods.The table includes a breakdown of adults and child detainees who have previously claimed asylum at some stage. However, we cannot identify those minors which were unaccompanied. Figures for Q4 2017 will be released on 22 February 2018.People leaving detention by length of detention, January to September 2017Length of detentionTotal DetaineesOf which: Adult asylum detaineesChild asylum detainees*Total20,73010,22224A: 3 days or less5,5142,04421B: 4 to 7 days1,4838552C: 8 to 14 days2,6041,0861D: 15 to 28 days3,6191,5500E: 29 days to less than 2 months3,4941,8750F: 2 months to less than 3 months1,5669780G: 3 months to less than 4 months7945460H: 4 months to less than 6 months8136310I: 6 months to less than 12 months6805360J: 12 months to less than 18 months100750K: 18 months to less than 24 months41310L: 24 months to less than 36 months20150M: 36 months to less than 48 months200N: 48 months or more000Figures are provisional.Asylum detainees: People detained solely under Immigration Act powerswho are recorded as having sought asylum at some stage.The median length of detention for adults, who had claimed asylum at some point, between January and September 2017, was between 15 and 28 days. There are a small number of detainees who have been detained for long periods of time, which would skew the mean value. The median is therefore the most suitable average for these data.

Asylum

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of the asylum procedure in the UK over (1) the last 12 months, and (2) the last three years.

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance in the UK over (1) the last 12 months, and (2) the last three years, for (a) Syrian nationals, (b) Afghan nationals, and (c) Iraqi nationals.

baroness williams of trafford: Information regarding the average duration of the asylum procedure is not recorded and held in a reportable format. However the information relating to the percentage of initial asylum decisions made within the published service standard can be found on table Asy_10 of the Asylum Transparency data published on 30th November 2017 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-november-2017). An extract of the table can be found below; Quarter Application ReceivedService StandardTotal Applications ReceivedStraightforward Applications ReceivedNon-straightforward Applications ReceivedOf those Straightforward Applications received, the number completed within Service StandardOf those Straightforward Applications received, the percentage completed within the Service Standard2017 Q16 months6,7314,1402,5914,09398.9%Information relating to the average time taken to make an initial decision is not recorded in a reportable format. However, information relating to the amount of initial decisions made in (1) the last 12 months, and (2) last three years for (a) Syrian nationals, (b) Afghan nationals, and (c) Iraqi nationals can be found in the Asylum data tables immigration statistics July to September 2017 volume 2 on table as_06; https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017-data-tablesAn extract is contained in the table below; Year of applicationCountry of nationalityTotal main applicantsTotal initial decisions*2014Afghanistan1,1381,0172015Afghanistan2,2591,6902016Afghanistan2,3291,2972014Iraq5955262015Iraq2,2341,9142016Iraq2,6721,7232014Syria1,9681,8502015Syria2,5242,3142016Syria1,3761,000 *It should be noted that the Total initial decisions made may not correlate to the year in which the claim was made.

Cabinet Office

National Security: USA

lord campbell of pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of the United States relating to the current preparation of the UK national security strategy.

lord young of cookham: The US and UK are very close allies and partners, with a uniquely broad and deep security relationship. The Government engages regularly and at all levels with the US authorities on national security issues vital to the UK's security and prosperity, and will continue to do so.

Acts

lord norton of louth: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) sections of, and (2) Schedules to, Acts of Parliament passed since 2010 have not been commenced.

lord young of cookham: The Cabinet Office does not maintain a central database of Schedules to Acts of Parliament that have not been commenced. All legislation is available at www.legislation.gov.uk.

Peers: Correspondence

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Prime Minister intends to reply to the letter from Lord Rooker to the Prime Minister dated 21 November 2017 in respect of the duty of care towards Government employees, with reference to the case of the late Dr Matthew Puncher.

lord young of cookham: The correspondence was responded to on 9th January 2018 on behalf of the Prime Minister by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Youth Services

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what statutory requirements are imposed on local authorities in relation to youth service.

lord ashton of hyde: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 22 December 2017.The correct answer should have been:

Section 507B of the Education Act 1996 (as amended by the Education and Inspections Act 1996) 2006) requires local authorities to secure access to sufficient services and activities to improve young people’s well-being, so far as is reasonably practicable.

lord ashton of hyde: Section 507B of the Education Act 1996 (as amended by the Education and Inspections Act 1996) 2006) requires local authorities to secure access to sufficient services and activities to improve young people’s well-being, so far as is reasonably practicable.